Typically, in the freight shipment industry, shipments of freight are received from a shipper by the freight carrier, accumulated at freight terminals where they are sorted by shipment destination and then loaded onto tractor-trailer trucks for shipment. At a receiving terminal, the shipments of freight are unloaded, and sorted for trans-shipment or delivery. Usually, the freight shipment is arranged on one or more pallets, and the loading and unloading is handled by lift trucks. Each shipment of freight is assigned an identifying number, and this number is used for tracking the freight from its origin to its destination.
Shipping charges are based upon the weight and the classification of the freight shipment and its weight. Typically, the weight of the shipment is provided to the freight carrier by the shipper on a bill of lading, and the shipment charges are calculated based upon the stated weight provided by the shipper. The freight carrier may conduct spot checks by reweighing selected shipments, but in most instances, the stated weight provided by the shipper is used as the basis for the freight charge, since it has not been feasible to reweigh each piece of freight handled by the freight carrier.